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Wednesday, 24 April 2013

The Educated Vs. The Literate

I recently had a run-in with the Principal and
the owner of a pre-primary school my younger one was going to as amazingly, his
outfit was demanding from these 3 year toddlers, writing skills which a 1st
grader’s mom would be proud of and to top it all, the play school expected the
hapless young minds to learn up all sorts of facts and reproduce the
information verbatim in, do hold your breath, EXAMS, written and oral! I am
sure everyone would agree that where children are concerned you can transform
yourself from a mild mannered Clark Kent to Superman (an angry one i.e.) in no
time.

Literacy I told him was not why I was sending
my son to his play school. I wanted my child to be educated not made a literate.
Like most people I say that to, he too was utterly confused and as with most
people, I had to explain what I meant. My main objective of sending my little
darling out of the protective and loving environment of a home to a school was
not to teach him to read and write only at that early a stage. For me those are
primary skills I can develop in my child at home too. My aim is not to turn him
into a computer or a Google Search Engine (which in their own are essential
too) but to mould him into someone who can use that information and knowledge
to his own and others’ advantage.

As a parent I want my child to grow up to be to
a well-rounded individual who learns the basics of the society we live in to be
able to develop values and people skills and be comfortable while interacting
with his peers, his teachers and many others he may come in contact with out of
his home. In other words I want my child to be socialised.

Socialisation as many of us know, is the
process by which people learn characteristics of their group’s norms, values,
attitudes and behaviour. I also want my child to be confident, self-reliant,
independent and curious. Education should empower children to be creative,
develop skills which help them to better understand themselves and the world we
live in so as to enable them to be compassionate, critical thinkers and above
all become better humans.

Our school system, as we know it, does little
to enhance the skills of children who in the process of growing up find
everything failing them. The education system binds them, oppresses them and turns
them into impractical and sometimes even unemployable individuals by the
millions. These individuals who maybe graduates, post graduates and even
Doctors of Philosophy I call literates. However they are not educated in the
best of its sense.

The educated have social values, integrity,
honesty, morals and principles and work very hard to make the world we live in
a better place not only for themselves but also the coming generations. The educated empathise and sympathise with
the plight of all who surround them and do not turn a blind eye to the miseries
and misfortunes of others. The educated do not bribe, steal, con, murder,
litter, or spit whatever be the circumstances. The educated are creative and
innovative people who try their best to make theirs and the lives of others
better and more comfortable.

The truly educated never stop learning and
never graduate. Peter Drucker, author
of, “The Age of Social Transformation” believes that an educated person is one
“who has learned how to learn, and who continues learning, especially by formal
education, throughout his or her lifetime.” Their thirst for
learning is never quenched. They seek, are curious, they question and never
make judgements without first digging deeper. They are humble, modest and
unpretentious. And above all their quest in life is to be true to themselves,
true to what God made us to be …humans.

1 comment:

Very well said Nirja. There is education and there is literacy. Education starts in the womb and is a life long process. Once we have gained a little of it, we can use the literacy that anyway is going to be thrust upon us. The first five years of a child's life are most important towards developing the personality. These should be used optimally to make him grow as a happy and a good social being. Schools and colleges will anyway force their bit in due time. There is no escape. We must develop the child adequately so that he can learn to enjoy the schooling.

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